Member of the House of Lords, Lord Hylton, has urged the British government to visit Rojava, the Kurdish regions of northern Syria, to witness the self-administration for itself during a debate in the house after last week’s Queen’s speech.

Having recently returned from his own visit to the region Lord Hylton expressed admiration for the authorities in Cizire, the eastern-most canton of three that make up the autonomous region of Rojava, saying that the Kurds, as the largest ethnic group, ‘might have seized power’ in 2011 when Assad’s forces fled but instead formed ‘common citizenship with the Assyrians, the Arabs, and other minorities’ to create a system of self-administration. A social contract has been adopted by the administration that ‘strongly proclaims equality for women’, he continued. Continue reading →

A recent parliamentary delegation to Ankara has published a report on their findings.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Lord Hylton and Jill Evans MEP spent two days in Ankara on the invitation of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) meeting with Kurdish and Turkish representatives from the Grand National Assembly and a variety of NGO’s. Their report, which is available for you read and download, gives an account of a variety of concerns around the denial of Kurdish rights, the new Turkish constitution, state repression and the impact of recent arrests on the BDP and Kurdish democratic politics.

The report also pledges the delegation’s support Kurdish demands for full inclusion in the new constitution, and for the resumption of negotiations between the Turkish government and Abdullah Ocalan and the PKK.

Find further information on this delegation and others Peace in Kurdistan has been involved with in the past on our Delegationspage.

EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR AFRIN

Life in Afrin

Weekly News Briefing

Jeremy Corbyn issues statement of support for the National Demo

Message from Jeremy Corbyn to Kurdish national demonstration in London:
“I’m sorry not to be able to be with you today, but I send a message of solidarity with today’s demonstration, and with the Kurdish people, under sustained attack across the Middle East.
The conflict in Syria has been the trigger for an onslaught against the Kurdish people, who are defending their autonomy and their rights.
We are watching closely the alarming events that have been unfolding in Turkey in recent weeks, including the killing of civilians and destruction of Kurdish homes.
Any negotiated settlement of the Syrian conflict must include peace and justice for the Kurds, including in Turkey. And the Turkish government needs as a matter of urgency to restart the peace process with the Kurds and respect the rights of all its people.
We call for an end to repression of the Kurds and justice for the Kurdish people throughout the Middle East.”

Destruction and Repression in North Kurdistan

Freedom for Ocalan!

On the 19th anniversary of his kidnap and imprisonment by Turkey, we renew our call for Abdullah Ocalan to be freed as part of a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.